The Many-Wisdom Star's Scheme

"Oh, Lin Yi? Who is that? Could he be some Martial Arts Teacher from Dongshan Martial Academy, and immensely wealthy besides? Otherwise, how could I squeeze several hundred thousand taels of silver out of him?"

Hearing the Elegant Scholar's words, Lu Chong asked in confusion.

He was not a martial artist like Wan Hu, who had lived in Dongshan Prefecture City all his life. Moreover, Wangwu Mountain was quite far from Dongshan Prefecture City, and he had plenty of matters to attend to in his daily life. Where would he find the time to pay attention to a genius like Lin Yi?

After all, no matter how outstanding those geniuses from Dongshan Martial Academy were, under normal circumstances, becoming a Third Grade Martial Artist was already quite good. Those with hopes of becoming Martial Arts Second Rank were exceedingly rare.

Yet he, Lu Chong, was a powerhouse at Third Rank Peak, even someone with hopes of challenging Martial Arts Second Rank. He was immensely powerful—why would he put some little brat who had yet to grow into his eyes?

Unless the other party was an unparalleled prodigy with First Rank potential. Only then would someone like Lu Chong receive word at once.

"Reporting to Great Chieftain."

Seeing this, the Elegant Scholar gave a chuckle and explained:

"This Lin Yi is no Martial Arts Teacher of Dongshan Martial Academy. Rather, he is a disciple who recently appeared at Dongshan Martial Academy, a Rural Disciple from a small county beneath Guangling Prefecture City."

"However, though this boy was born into poverty, his talent is exceptionally remarkable. The moment he entered Dongshan Martial Academy, he displayed Extreme Strength at Minor Accomplishment and cultivation nearing the middle stage of Sixth-Rank Martial Arts, forcing all the academy disciples to bow their heads."

"Then, in merely one month, he overwhelmed countless disciples in Dongshan Martial Academy's Monthly Grand Competition, taking second place in the academy, surpassed only by the Lin Family's peerless genius, Lin Tianqing."

"Another month later, his strength actually surged again, reaching the peak of Sixth-Rank Martial Arts and the realm of Martial Skill where a Fourth-Rank Martial Art had reached perfection. Not long ago, in Dongshan Martial Academy's Year-End Grand Competition, he boldly defeated Lin Tianqing of the Lin Family and became number one in Dongshan Martial Academy. His talent is truly astonishing!"

"Indeed!"

At that, Lu Chong nodded slightly in approval.

"Strategist, by your account, Lin Yi's talent truly is rather extraordinary. Even compared with me in my youth, I fear I would be slightly inferior."

"If he continues developing at this pace, then in a few years, he may indeed have great hope of becoming another Martial Arts Second Rank powerhouse in our Dongshan Prefecture!"

"However, that said, no matter how talented Lin Yi is, he is still just a little brat right now. He should not have much money on hand, should he?"

"And his background is lowly as well. Even if we kidnapped him, I doubt anyone would be willing to produce several hundred thousand taels of silver in one go to ransom him. How am I supposed to get those several hundred thousand taels of silver from him?"

"Hehe, Great Chieftain has mistaken the matter."

Hearing Lu Chong's doubts, the Elegant Scholar smiled smugly.

"That Lin Yi indeed has neither money nor background. But while he has no background, he has talent!"

"One must know that Tianshan Sect has existed for over a thousand years. Within it are countless great families and factions."

"Though these families and factions stand united when facing foreign enemies, when there are no outside foes, they compete among themselves with extreme ferocity for all manner of resources and benefits."

"And for a genius like Lin Yi, who has great hopes of reaching Martial Arts Second Rank, whichever family or faction within Tianshan Sect it may be, they would certainly value him highly."

"In such circumstances, so long as Lin Yi is willing to sign a contract with one of those great families and sell himself completely to them, then given how highly those great families value him, not to mention several hundred thousand taels—even a million taels or more could likely be obtained with ease!"

"And as for this, the higher-ups of Tianshan Sect would surely be happy to see it happen. They may not fan the flames, but at the very least, they would not obstruct Great Chieftain too much."

"By then, would Great Chieftain not have gathered most of that one million-something taels of silver?"

"Oh, it can actually be done this way?"

Upon hearing this, Lu Chong's eyes lit up.

As a mountain bandit, he had naturally carried out kidnappings before.

But ordinarily, no matter how distinguished the person he kidnapped was, he generally only demanded at most one hundred thousand taels of silver.

After all, none of the great families in Dongshan Prefecture were easy to provoke. If he truly drove them into a corner and they decided to forgo the hostage and insist on going to war with him, the losses would be far more than a mere one hundred thousand taels of silver.

Besides, they all made their living in Dongshan Prefecture. Though they belonged to the black and white paths respectively, they still saw each other everywhere they turned.

If the other party knew what was good for them and was willing to pay the silver, then Qingfeng Stockade naturally could not go too far. Otherwise, Qingfeng Stockade would find it difficult to survive in Dongshan Prefecture and Wangwu Mountain.

Thus, for a moment just now, he had not even thought of raising silver through kidnapping.

But now, Lin Yi had no background, yet possessed exceptional talent. He was simply the perfect prey Heaven had bestowed upon him!

Once he kidnapped him, this Enlightenment Pill and Martial Arts Second Rank would truly be within reach!

"Ha ha! Good!"

Thinking of this, Lu Chong burst into laughter.

"Strategist, this scheme is truly a marvelous one! You have so easily secured so much silver for This Great King. You truly deserve to be Qingfeng Stockade's Mister Many-Wisdom Star!"

"However, fine though this plan is, there remains one difficulty: how do we enter the prefecture city and kidnap Lin Yi?"

"One must know that Dongshan Prefecture City is a place of Hidden Dragons and Crouching Tigers. Not only are there Martial Arts Second Rank experts in the city, there are even several First Rank Masters."

"Furthermore, Lin Yi lives in Dongshan Martial Academy. That is an important place in Dongshan Prefecture City, not even far from the City Lord's Mansion. With Qingfeng Stockade's strength, it is simply impossible for us to abduct him beneath the watchful eyes of the City Lord's Mansion's many experts."

"As for waiting for him to come out? Who knows when he will come out? And even if he does, if he merely wanders around the City Lord's Mansion, how could we make our move?"

"Hehe, Great Chieftain, rest assured!"

The moment Lu Chong finished speaking, the Elegant Scholar immediately stroked the few wisps of long beard beneath his chin and smiled smugly.

"Since I have offered Great Chieftain this idea, I naturally have a way to help Great Chieftain resolve this problem."

"Indeed! Lin Yi lives in Dongshan Martial Academy, so he is very difficult to kidnap. But just because he is difficult to kidnap does not mean his Close Relatives are difficult to kidnap!"

"Does Great Chieftain still remember that I previously told you that although Lin Yi is highly talented, he comes from a remote little county called Qinghe County in Guangling Prefecture City, and both his father and mother are natives of that small county?"

"And now, after Lin Yi joined Dongshan Martial Academy for cultivation over two months ago, his parents gave up their house in Guangling Prefecture City and have both returned to live in Qinghe County."

"For a small county like this, its defenses are basically pitifully weak. Forget experts—even a single Sixth-Rank Martial Artist is nowhere to be found."

"When the time comes, Qingfeng Stockade only needs to casually send a few men. Capturing Lin Yi's parents will be as easy as Grasp the Bag and Take the Thing."

"And with Lin Yi's parents in our hands, why would Great Chieftain need worry that Lin Yi won't obediently send us silver?"

"Ha ha! Good!"

After hearing the Elegant Scholar lay out the entire plan, Lu Chong was thoroughly excited this time.

"Strategist, you truly are a god among men! No Plan Overlooked indeed! Not only did you come up with such a brilliant scheme in such a short time, you even considered every last detail for This Great King."

"With the strategist here, why should I worry about not obtaining the Enlightenment Pill? Why should I worry about failing to reach Martial Arts Second Rank? Hahaha!"

Lu Chong laughed heartily.

"Congratulations, Big Brother! Congratulations!"

"With the strategist's brilliant plan, Big Brother will surely succeed at the first charge this time, obtain the Enlightenment Pill, and reach Martial Arts Second Rank!"

Seeing this, the chieftains of Qingfeng Stockade also burst into laughter.

After everyone laughed for a while, Lu Chong suddenly turned to the handsome young man beside him and barked, "Jian'er!"

"Your son is here!"

At this, the handsome young man immediately stepped forward, cupped his hands, bowed, and respectfully saluted Lu Chong.

"Mm. You heard the strategist's plan just now, didn't you? Capturing Lin Yi's parents is a matter of great importance. I wouldn't feel at ease sending ordinary men."

"As for your Uncles and Elders, I trust them completely, but they are simply too powerful—at the very least, all of them are Fourth Grade Martial Dao experts."

"If I sent them, it would be using a butcher's knife to kill a chicken. If word got out afterward, I fear it would draw ridicule from all the Heroes of the Martial World."

"So this time, I'm sending you to lead a team to Qinghe County and capture Lin Yi's parents. Can you do it?"

"Yes! Thank you, Father, for entrusting your son with this great responsibility. This time, your son will definitely Not disgrace the mission and bring Lin Yi's parents back!"

The handsome young man, Lu Jian, replied with cupped hands, his voice forceful and ringing.

"Mm, go!"

Seeing this, Lu Chong smiled and nodded, a gleam flashing in his eyes.

The reason he had sent his own son this time was not actually because he feared those Heroes outside would laugh at these chieftains.

After all, what were they?

Mountain Bandits!

For mountain bandits, murder, arson, robbery, and kidnapping had always been as natural as breathing. What did it matter whether others laughed or not?

The true reason he was sending his son was entirely so that his son could establish great merit and raise his prestige, allowing him to smoothly assume the position after Lu Chong was gone After a hundred years.

After all, though his son was not incompetent, his talent was still somewhat lacking. At most, he would probably reach Fourth Grade Martial Dao in the future; attaining the Third Grade was impossible.

And while Fourth Grade strength was not weak, how could it possibly suppress these Proud Soldiers and Fierce Generals under his command?

So, starting now, he would cultivate Lu Jian step by step, raising his prestige within the stockade step by step.

Once Lu Jian's prestige in Qingfeng Stockade shone like the sun at noon, then even if his subordinates harbored other thoughts, there would be nothing they could do.

"Hehe, contend with me? You're all still too green!"

Looking at this group of chieftains beneath him, their faces full of excitement while each harbored Sinister Intentions, Lu Chong could not help revealing a smug smile.